Chapter 12: The Heir’s First Enemy
The newborn’s cry still echoed inside the hidden archive.
For one brief moment...
The entire world stopped.
Julian forgot the alarms.
Forgot the weapons.
Forgot the enemies waiting outside.
He looked down at the tiny life resting in Elena’s arms.
A child they had fought an entire war to protect.
Their child.
Their second chance.
Elena looked exhausted.
But she was smiling.
A real smile.
The first one Julian had seen in eight months.
"He’s beautiful."
Julian's voice broke.
Elena looked at him.
"He?"
He nodded.
"A son."
A quiet laugh escaped her.
"Of course."
Julian smiled slightly.
"Why?"
"Because you spent your whole life trying to control everything."
She touched the baby's tiny hand.
"Life gave you a little boy who will probably never listen to you."
For the first time in what felt like forever...
Julian laughed.
A small laugh.
But a real one.
Then the wall screen flashed again.
The red message remained.
THE HEIR HAS ARRIVED.
NOW WATCH WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE WORLD LEARNS THE HEIR IS MISSING.
Marco immediately moved toward the computer terminal.
"Someone breached the archive system."
Lorenzo looked concerned.
"Impossible."
"Why?"
"Because this system is isolated."
Marco checked the data.
"Not anymore."
Julian looked up.
"What does that mean?"
Marco's face became serious.
"It means someone inside the Rossi network gave them access."
Everyone became silent.
Slowly...
Everyone looked at each other.
Because the enemy wasn't outside.
The enemy was still inside.
Julian looked toward Adrian.
His half-brother stood near the archive entrance.
For the first time, he didn't look like a powerful businessman.
He looked like a man watching his entire life collapse.
Julian pointed toward him.
"You knew."
Adrian didn't answer.
"You knew about the archive."
Still nothing.
"You knew about my father."
Adrian finally spoke.
"Yes."
The answer was quiet.
Too quiet.
Julian felt anger rising.
"Then why?"
Adrian looked at him.
"Because I wanted to know why he chose you."
The room went still.
Julian frowned.
"What?"
Adrian walked slowly through the archive.
"You had no idea, did you?"
"No idea about what?"
"That your father knew about me."
"That he watched me grow up."
"That he promised my mother he would protect me."
Julian looked confused.
"Your mother?"
Adrian laughed bitterly.
"Of course."
"You never knew."
"Nobody wanted you to know."
The story began to unfold.
Thirty years earlier...
Before Julian was born...
His father, Alessandro Rossi, had fallen in love with another woman.
A woman outside the Rossi family.
A woman named Sofia Keller.
But when the Rossi family discovered the relationship...
They forced Alessandro to choose.
The empire.
Or the woman he loved.
He chose the empire.
Sofia left.
Pregnant.
With Adrian.
Years later...
Alessandro secretly searched for his first son.
He found him.
He tried to help him.
But he never publicly acknowledged him.
Because the Rossi family would have collapsed under the scandal.
Adrian grew up watching Julian receive everything he never had.
The name.
The respect.
The inheritance.
The family.
And inside him...
Resentment grew.
Julian listened silently.
Then he said:
"You hated me because of something our father did."
Adrian's eyes sharpened.
"No."
"I hated you because he looked at you and saw his future."
"And he looked at me..."
His voice cracked.
"...and saw a mistake."
Nobody spoke.
Even Julian felt the weight of those words.
But then Adrian continued.
"Do you know what the worst part was?"
"He wanted me to protect you."
Julian froze.
"What?"
Adrian laughed.
"He told me one day..."
A bitter smile appeared.
"If anything happens to me, take care of your brother."
Julian stared.
"Your brother."
The word seemed impossible.
"You were supposed to protect me?"
"Yes."
"Then why destroy me?"
Adrian looked away.
"Because I convinced myself that taking everything from you would make the pain disappear."
A pause.
"It didn't."
Before Julian could respond...
A loud explosion shook the building.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Marco immediately moved.
"Everyone down!"
The archive doors slammed shut automatically.
Red lights flashed.
Another message appeared.
LOCKDOWN ACTIVATED.
Lorenzo rushed toward the controls.
"Someone has sealed the chamber."
Marco checked his radio.
"No signal."
Julian looked at him.
"We're trapped?"
Marco nodded.
"For now."
Elena held their baby closer.
Julian immediately moved beside her.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded.
"I'm fine."
But he saw the fear in her eyes.
Not for herself.
For their child.
A parent could survive almost anything.
But watching danger approach their child...
That was different.
Then a voice came through the archive speakers.
A woman's voice.
Calm.
Elegant.
Familiar.
Julian froze.
"No..."
Everyone looked at him.
Because he recognized it.
The voice belonged to someone they all trusted.
Someone who had been beside them from the beginning.
Someone who had cried with them.
Someone who had helped search for Elena.
The voice spoke:
"Julian."
He stared at the speaker.
"Who is that?"
Victoria whispered.
"No..."
The voice continued.
"I am sorry it had to happen this way."
Julian stepped closer.
"Show yourself."
A pause.
Then:
"I never wanted to hurt you."
The screen flickered.
A woman's face appeared.
Julian felt his entire body go cold.
Because it was someone he knew.
Someone he never suspected.
Someone who had access to everything.
The woman smiled sadly.
"I only wanted what was taken from me."
Julian whispered her name.
"Camila..."
Nobody moved.
Camila.
The woman who had entered the hotel with him.
The woman who had walked beside him wearing emerald green.
The woman who acted like a stranger in the middle of his nightmare.
She wasn't just a coincidence.
She was part of it.
Marco immediately raised his weapon toward the screen.
"How did she access the system?"
Lorenzo looked horrified.
"Because she is not just Camila."
The screen showed a file.
A family record.
A name.
Julian stared.
"No..."
Lorenzo whispered:
"Camila is a member of the Rossi bloodline."
Julian felt the room spin.
Another heir.
Another secret.
Another enemy.
Camila looked directly into the camera.
And said:
"Congratulations, Julian."
"You protected Elena's child."
A small smile.
"But you forgot something."
"You don't know who the rightful heir really is."
The screen went black.
And somewhere above them...
The hotel doors opened.
Hundreds of reporters rushed inside.
Cameras flashed.
News helicopters surrounded the building.
The world had learned.
The Rossi heir was born.
But they had also learned something else.
May you like
The child had enemies before he had even taken his first breath.
End of Chapter 12
